DEATHberry in Hollowland
by Eliya Shirwood
Summary: Amidst the fight against Ginjou, Ichigo is enthralled by the real meaning and mystery behind Fullbring.


Reiatsu splashed into the phasing air after every clash between the two large swords. The after-images of Ichigo and Ginjou clouded the skies as they slipped into each other's blind spot. The pointless skirmish seemed to continue on endlessly as Ichigo stalled while Uryu supposedly sought after a weakness.

Even under the pressure of sneak shots by the archer, Ginjou showed no sign of faltering as they exchanged strikes. Ginjou was simply swatting away the spiritual arrows like flies, each being dissipated under the pressure of the possessed reiatsu. Ichigo ignored the bitter feel of his own reiatsu being pitted against him as he fought against Ginjou; in his mind, he compared the situation to his fierce encounters with his Hollow counterpart. Granted, he definitely was never on the losing end of the struggle unlike the contrast.

His focus never drifted away from the eyes of his opponent- of this traitor whom Ichigo once trusted. Even after Ginjou explained the reason behind his deceit, Ichigo could not figure out if it was the real truth. Somehow, this former Substitute's eyes conveyed a different story. Not to mention the fact that he didn't appear to be trying his best to eliminate Ichigo convinced him further.

Nonetheless, asking the truth from the mad man was pointless; Ichigo knew that very well after seeing the extent Ginjou dragged everyone through his battlefield. He even went to such extreme measure to risk the lives of his fellow Fullbringers in order to trick Ichigo. Ichigo hissed through his teeth at the thought and built up his reiatsu into the sharpened Zangetsu.

Ginjou caught on to the technique and distanced himself while building his own through his Cross of Scaffold. Ichigo wasted no time to swing his edge across the horizon to unleash Getsuga Tenshou, an external wave of his power, towards Ginjou. Simultaneously, Ginjou opposed the attack with a vertical swing, expelling his own version of Getsuga Tenshou composed of Ichigo's stolen reiatsu.

In mere fractions of a second, the two crescent beams collided and distorted the atmosphere in their impact. Shock-waves dispersed from the collision, and residues splashed off as the two bodies dissipated in the nullification. The cancel didn't hesitate the two opponents as they continued to fire off their shots.

The continual barrage showed intense strain to the pocket dimension they were cast in, the environment disguised as Karakura town. The buildings, trees, electric lines, and various other objects burst into fragments; the air phased into voids of space and bright noises for brief moments as the dimension tried to fix itself. To be frank, Ichigo hoped that this effect would eventually wear down their cage and let them return to reality.

Ginjou sneered at Ichigo while breaking the siege by charging him. Ichigo smashed his blade against Ginjou's, and attempted to kick him from the side. Ginjou caught on to the feint and blocked the winding knee with his elbow. After pushing their blades farther from their body, Ginjou rushed his head forward for a headbutt. Their heads collided with a loud crack, earning splatters and streams of blood.

Immediately, Ichigo disappeared with a shunpo and swung his blade straight down upon Ginjou's head. As he'd expect, Ginjou was already aware and slashed his blade backward and released a blast of Getsuga Tenshou.

Ginjou snarled at the lacking grind of pressure from the attack because Ichigo had escaped its grasp. Instead, Ichigo retreated several meters and stood atop one of the buildings. Ginjou let out a taunting laugh as he clenched his free hand.

"Is this all you've got, Kurosaki!" Ginjou spun the Cross of Scaffold along his side before pointing it at Ichigo. "It's finally your chance to kill me; one on one!"

Ichigo remained silent as he straightened Zangetsu along his side. He continued to consider the possible motives behind this insanity, and the best means to convince Ginjou to stop.

At that moment, Uryu dashed into the open and hovered behind Ginjou. Ichigo could tell that he was still concentrated on the area around them rather than its master. He leered at his partner as he huffed.

"So you still can't think of anything, Uyru!" Ichigo yelled out.

"It's more complex than I thought," Uyru complied as he rose his spiritual bow to Ginjou. "Besides, I don't see you doing any better."

"Because I'm doing all the fighting, idiot." Ichigo looked back to Ginjou who was starting to chuckle.

"Are you still trying to figure out how to leave? I already told you it's impossible," Ginjou insulted to them as he pointed to himself. "The only means is through the death of me, and that's not going to happen."

Ichigo already understood that had to be the only reason and was on the verge to oblige. However, there were still many things he wanted to extract from Ginjou before seeking the fatal strike.

"Why don't you try a little harder? Or perhaps I can offer you an opening," Ginjou taunted as he lessened his stance.

"Is that your only strategy, Kuugo Ginjou? Strangle your opponent in a mental lock? Sounds like you're in a bad position from my stance," Uryu chided as he lowered his bow. Ichigo assumed that Uryu changed his tactic to a verbal engagement to distract Ginjou from Ichigo.

Ginjou gave him a cold glance before snickering. "I'm in a bad position? From where are you looking? It's clear that I'm more than capable of defeating both of you right now." He returned his attention to Ichigo while relaxing his grip on his sword.

"Try and shoot me from behind, if you dare. I'll take you on while talking." From the look in Uyru's eyes, Ichigo could tell he was more than willing to give it a shot.

"Kurosaki," Ginjou spoke aloud as his tone became more serious. "Do you know... why you are carrying a substitute badge?"

Ichigo returned a quizzical expression after seeing the shocked gesture on Uyru's face. Something didn't feel right about this topic. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sure he told you this when he handed you the badge," Ginjou explained as he offered his hand outwards as if handing him the said badge. "'In the case a substitute Shinigami is deemed useful to Soul Society, it's tradition to give him one of these badges.'"

Ichigo listened carefully to the words spoken. In fact, they were verbatim to what Captain Ukitake mentioned as he offered the badge during Ichigo's departure. He had some doubts behind the words spoken, but that was the depth of such. Was there something more that Ginjou let on?

"Listen carefully, Kurosaki..." Ginjou remarked as his stare shifted more fiercely. However, Ichigo felt that something was off; he could hardly hear what Ginjou just said. In fact, he could barely manage to decipher what was being murmured from his suddenly warped mouth.

"What the hell?" Ichigo mumbled as he watched as a strange phenomenon occurred. Everything was being warped into darkness. 'Is this some additional affect from the Fullbring power?' He thought as he looked around.

He couldn't find Uryu either as he continued to observe his lost surroundings. He honed his senses to feel for either of their reiatsu, but to no avail. This was indeed strange; it was like everything was robed from the environment.

"Crap, what is going on?" Ichigo asked aloud as he tried to motion his arms and legs aside. Odd enough, he could maintain his balance as though he was still standing on that building, but he could not feel any ground nor resistance from the world.

"Zangetsu? Is this your doing?" Ichigo yelled out, expecting a response from his former partner. The fact that he had his abilities returned to him should hint that Zangetsu was also returned, but the scenario seemed to suggest otherwise.

He clenched his right hand and felt Zangetsu's handle. "Alright, so I still have my sword. So why aren't you responding?" He motioned the sword in front of him, attempting to extend his field of reach. Still, he felt no interaction.

"Why do I keep getting dragged into these messes?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Ichigo spotted a dot of light in the distance. Nothing more than a speckle of hope surely, but he could still see it after blinking his eyes. He focused his strength into his feet and darted into its direction. Surprisingly, he could just then feel himself running unlike early in a mere hover.

"Whatever, as long as I can get out of here," Ichigo mumbled as he increased his speed. He summoned a shunpo which greatly shortened the distance. In a few more, he was thoroughly enveloped by the light.

* * *

><p>Ichigo had to cover his eyes because of the intensity; it was as if he was staring into the very presence of the sun. He began to shiver at the introduction of a slight brush of breeze. The warmth was quite different than before, somewhere lower than room temperature whereas hot in the pocket dimension. He couldn't understand why this change occurred other than the possibility that he had spontaneously popped out of that cage.<p>

"I guess about time- eh?" Ichigo was cut short upon looking around. He could not believe this: now he was in a completely different world! He was not outside of the Tsukishima's mansion, nor was he hovering above Karakura town. He was in some bizarre room clustered with bright colors and decors.

"The hell is all of this!" Ichigo exclaimed after looking from wall to wall. He withdrew Zangetsu to its holster on his back as he walked forward.

Everything was so strange, like spilled out of a realm of fantasy. Normal objects such as tables, chairs, and mirrors that Ichigo could identify were skewered and tainted with random splatters of bright hues. The ground itself was half tile, quarterly carpeted, and quarterly dirt, but that was only from what he could perceive; the horror was that it was warped and tilted and morphed into stacked layers onto itself... yet managed to appear flat enough to walk straight on without faltering.

The walls were simply bizarre in the fact that... they were simply walls. Aside from the queer objects plastered on them, they were left untouched. The only oddity about them was the beige color.

"...I feel like I've been thrown into an art piece," Ichigo commented aloud as he continued to walk around. He stumbled upon the lone table in the center of the room which had a banner laid along its corner. He tried to read its message, but with little luck. He looked down on the actual table itself, and found something a bit more peculiar: a button.

Ichigo bent down to get a closer look at the red stud with a metal encasing. There was no other caption to dictate its existence, and Ichigo was quite compelled to press it.

"It is the only damn thing which is normal, so why not?" Ichigo reasoned before pressing it. He waited several seconds, though nothing happened. He pressed the button again, and still nothing happened.

"Normal, my ass! Normally broken, more like- Uh?" He was stopped short after seeing a bubble pop into being in front of him.

"...A... bubble?"

Indeed, there was nothing special about it: just what appeared to be an air bubble, transparent and clear. Ichigo stood back up and stared intently at it. While standing up, he noticed that the bubble motioned as well, following him along the way.

Again, he was compelled to touch it, but refrained himself. "Hell no, I know better than to touch normal things now."

[Why not?]

Ichigo yelped while mid-jump, and looked around to see who had spoken. He was still the only person in the room, so who could have said it?

"Who's there?"

[You]

Ichigo was starting to get frustrated at the voice which seemed to slip into existence without an origin. "Seriously, who's there? Show yourself!"

[Look at yourself then, asshole]

Ichigo roared in anger as he stomped his foot into the ground. "Stop toying with me!"

[You're toying with yourself; can't you see that?]

Ichigo glanced around the room more carefully once more, detailing everything about the room. This time, he wasn't going to count out the inanimate objects as suspects. "Are you one of these objects?"

[Nope]

"Are you a person?"

[What is this, 20 questions?]

"Answer me already!"

[Just look in front of you, already]

Ichigo stared at the air bubble which still hovered in its spot without moving. He was sure it wasn't a normal bubble now, since it should have fell to the ground already if gravity still existed in this realm. "So you're the bubble?"

[No. I told you that]

"Then what's with this bubble? I'm going to pop it if you-"

[D-Don't do that, asshole!]

Ichigo encroached his hands around its being, prepared to deliver the death blow. "What could possibly happen? I'm starting to get curious..."

[You're going to regret that! If you want out of this room, just touch it already!]

Ichigo merely stared at the bubble and blew at it. It did not falter to the air, and Ichigo decided against obeying the voice.

"There's no way I'm touching that bizarre blot. Are you stupid?" Ichigo scorned the voice while folding his arms into his chest.

[What! Are you going to stay in this room for the rest of your life then?]

Ichigo looked aside as he tried to think of any other possibilities. "I'll find another way out. I don't trust you anyways; I bet you are some other Fullbring power of that snot-nosed kid."

[How dare you not trust me, idiot! I'll make you touch me!]

"Y-You can't make me touch you!" Ichigo hesitated a bit, realizing that the voice had a hint of feminine to it. Actually, he started to wonder if he knew someone whom that voice belonged to. He looked around the bubble, hoping to see something hidden in a different angle.

"Wait, don't I know you? You sound familiar?"

[No more questions! Here I come!]

Suddenly, the bubble started floating towards him in a random bobble. Ichigo darted back in reflex after seeing it in motion. He understood that the worst was bound to happen if he touched that bubble.

[Get back here! I can't move that fast!]

"Hell no, I'm not going to let you touch me!" Ichigo cried out as he back up more. He only managed to get a few steps before meeting the wall. He looked behind him to a strange development: he wasn't actually touching the wall. In fact, he should have still had many more feet left for him. He moved his arms aside to find another exit, but met only invisible boundaries.

"What the heck is going on? I can't move away! Wait I can still-" He ducked down and tried to evade the slow horizontal approach, but the bubble dropped down at the same time. In useless motions, he continued to switch back and forth in height, but the bubble met his determination equally.

[Come here already!]

"No no no!" Ichigo let out a girlish scream as the bubble hovered to his chest. Upon touching him, the bubble burst and... nothing happened. Ichigo could not stop the twitches reigning his body, but he felt a good relief wash over him. He closed his eyes and relished in the ease.

"Thank God, nothing happened."

[You sure do scream like a girl, Ichigo]

* * *

><p>Suddenly, he found himself dragged into a new location after opening his eyes. This time, it was apparently his own world, yet in the middle of a school yard blessed with a long grassy yard. He looked around to see school girls running about and playing amongst themselves. He then turned his attention to his attire, and noticed he was still in his shihakushou.<p>

"...Okay. I guess this means I'm back to reality. Thank Go-"

[Don't be so stupid. Of course you're not]

He stuttered upon hearing the voice and frantically searched for the source. Again, nothing could be found. "What the hell! Why are you haunting me!"

[Just find me already]

"Tell me who you are so I can!"

[Find m-]

Ichigo grunted while waiting to hear the following pointless ramble, but the voice seemed to disappear. He ran his hand across his face before looking to his surrounding once again. He assumed that no one could see him since he was still in his spiritual form, which might help him find any particular stalkers looking at him.

"Oh, I'm going to find you, and you're going to get me out of here!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Well, I guess I finally got around to making that sequel? Don't know, I wasn't really planning to continue on with Riruka after reading the Fullbring finale and whatever the crap is going on now. Of course, now with Viz being butthurt, it's harder to come across the new chapters which is actually a good thing. Everything mainstream is so shitty now.

To explain this entry, this was my initial mindset behind the Fullbring ability and how to properly explain its existence/interaction with the users. However, I can hardly recall what I had concluded back then and now have to scramble to see what I had formulated. This is the result.

Anyways, I doubt that this will last more than 6 chapters, and I don't intend to be consistent with the releases; I have other entries I'm more interested in. Also wonder if I'm going to put a lemon in this... Hm. Also, updated Fullbring the Love! with a proofread so it should flow well now.

And to answer a particular review from that. **mkautnts115:** That's merely implied through that page. Granted, given the strong relationship between Japanese and tall buildings... might as well have been her fate.


End file.
